276 Container Rose Growing Basics

Show Transcript

GB 276 Container Roses TRANSCRIPT

Farmer Fred  0:00

Garden Basics with Farmer Fred is brought to you by Smart Pots, the original lightweight, long lasting fabric plant container. It's made in the USA. Visit SmartPots.com slash Fred for more information and a special discount, that's SmartPots.com/Fred.

Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information, you've come to the right spot.

Farmer Fred

If you’re currently growing roses in containers, or are thinking of adding a few potted roses to your patio or balcony, this is the episode for you. We get the tips from a professional rose grower, Ben Hanna, owner of HeirloomRoses.com. Also, Master Rosarian Debbie Arrington solves some tree rose woes for a listener. And, I chat with a local garden club about the need to keep an eye on soil temperatures in container plants during the summer, with tips for cooling them off.

It’s all in today’s episode, number 276, Container Rose Growing Basics.

We’re podcasting from Barking Dog Studios here in the beautiful Abutilon Jungle in Suburban Purgatory. It’s the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. Let’s go!

GROWING ROSES IN CONTAINERS

Farmer Fred

So I bought a rose recently, let me tell you the story of the rose and why I bought it. I'm gonna go back  to 1980, the night before my wedding. And we had the wedding dinner the night before, as is traditional with most weddings. And my mother was there. And my late mother could be sometimes difficult to work with, to say the least. And she said after the dinner, “I want a Cecille Brunner rose to wear.” And we looked around at each other and go, “oh man”, here we go, It’s 12 hours from the wedding and you want a Cecille Brunner rose. So my wife, thinking quickly, gathered her bridal party together and said, you have a job tomorrow morning, go find a Cecille Brunner rose. Well, they did. And she had one. So she was very happy because it reminded her of growing up on the farm in North Dakota, way back when. So we all lived happily ever after. So for whatever reason, I decided to get a - and I will pronounce it correctly now - a Cecille Brunner rose from my own garden. Just to remember that panicky night, many, many years ago. So where do you go shopping for an heirloom rose? So,  you do a search on the internet. And what pops up but heirloomroses.com and Cecille Brunner. It is a very old rose, it goes back to 1880. And it does well in a wide variety of climates. Obviously, if it can grow on a farm in North Dakota, it can grow just about anywhere. So I was looking forward to probably having a bullet proof rose, we'll see about that. So I ordered from heirloom roses.com. And it arrived when they said it was going to arrive. What shocked me, though, was when I opened the box and looked at the plant, it was kind of skinny and it didn't have any leaves. But it turns out, there's a very good reason for that. And they're also grown on their own root system. And we'll get into that a little bit later, too. We're talking with Ben Hanna. He is the president of heirloom roses.com up in Oregon in St. Paul, Oregon. Ben, tell us about your love of roses. How the heck did you ever get in the rose business?

Ben Hanna  3:42

My wife and I have always loved to garden. Plants have always been a big passion of ours. We've always grown roses. I grew up on a farm and grew roses. And my mom taught me all about roses and planting roses and things. But  about 10 years ago, I left corporate America and was looking for a lifestyle change that would keep me home, to be closer to my family, because  I was traveling all the time. And so my wife and I acquired heirloom roses from the founders 10 years ago, from Louise Clements. It was just a passion of ours. It's an online retail and farming together. So it was a great mix. good fit for me and my wife. And it's been a lot of fun, owning the business and being around a great team of people that love roses.

Farmer Fred  4:27

I noticed that in your biography, it says, “Ben loves that all five of his children have worked with him at the nursery.” Congratulations on that.

Ben Hanna  4:35

Yeah, that's been fun. Well, you know, it's a family business. So it's a little bit mandatory at times when it snows in Oregon and we got to clear greenhouses of snow, everyone's working. But no, it's been great. All my kids have grown up here doing different things from hands-on working with the plants to learning about marketing and all of the things that go with that and it's been good. It's, it's been very fulfilling and challenging at times.

Farmer Fred  4:57

Tell us a little bit about St. Paul, Oregon. And what the USDA zone is and  what is your weather like?

Ben Hanna  5:03

St. Paul, Oregon is south of Portland, about 30 minutes down in the Willamette Valley. We have really, really good soils. We're right on the Willamette River. So we have very good water access. And the unique thing about Oregon is it's got  four distinct seasons. So we do very rainy, wet, cold winters, and a long, dry summer. Most people don't know that about Oregon. But we do have a very long, dry summer. And so our access to water and being on the river here is really important. We're USDA zone eight. And so roses just flourish and do great here. One unique thing, too, is we grow all of our roses in containers. And we really try, almost all of our roses that you're going to buy from us have gone through a full dormant cycle and a winter. And I think  when that is the case, you're getting something that's really hardened off. That means that it's gone through a full cycle of going dormant, and it's gonna do well and become established well in your garden.

Farmer Fred  6:00

So obviously, you're propagating roses and these roses are grown on their own root systems, as opposed to what you might find in a big box store. And you only see them in those stores, probably in late winter, when the roses are wrapped tightly in plastic, but they're pretty big and  have pretty thick branches, but they're all grafted. Now, we've come to accept grafting of roses as standard procedure, but really, it doesn't have to be. The reason a lot of roses are grafted is because there are root systems out there that can make a rose grow a lot quicker and look a lot prettier if you're on display in a store.

Ben Hanna  6:40

That's correct. The grafting of roses has really been the mechanization of the farming practices to grow roses quickly and move them into retail and have a big plant on display. But it hasn't always been done that way. I mean, all roses will grow on their own roots, that's  the way a rose is hybridized and first established. They've been grown on their own roots, meaning that the top of the plant is the same as the bottom of plant. We grow them from cuttings, and so there's no grafting. It takes a little longer, it can be challenging at times. But I think the benefit there to the person putting these into their yard is they have a very well established plant that's going to be extremely hardy and do well in all climates.

Farmer Fred  7:23

And on the other hand, if you purchase grafted roses, that graft point can be a weak spot that might invite disease or decay. Frankly, it could be sending up shoots of a rose variety you don't want, if you don't pay attention to it.

Ben Hanna  7:39

Yeah, we see this all the time. Certainly early spring here in Oregon, when roses are really starting to grow and push hard. You'll see a rose that might have white blooms, and you go, oh, there's some red blooms, and they look very different. And that's the rootstock. The rootstocks, typically on grafted roses, they're very aggressive growers. And over time, that aggressive growing rootstock will take over the rest of the plant, it's bound to happen. It's just the nature of an aggressive growing rootstock like that. And also you kind of get lopsided plant over time, too, when you graft on.  There's no regeneration from the roots with basal break and another thing with an own-root rose, you're gonna get canes coming up from the roots that are the same as the rest of the plant, and you’ll get a better shaped plant that's just more robust and healthy.

Farmer Fred  8:23

Explain for people who don't know, they might be confused. Because if you hang out with rosarians long enough, you'll hear something like, “I can't take cuttings from that, because it's a patented rose”. But I was surprised to learn that patents for plants have a limited lifespan, they're only 20 years long.

Ben Hanna  8:41

Yes, that's true. You know, it's important to have a patenting process. Hybridizers put a lot of time and effort into a plant. Sometimes they'll put out 300,000 seedlings to get just one really good rose. And there's a lot of time and effort that goes into that. And as a grower, we want to honor that. So  we pay royalties to some of our  hybridizers. And then some of those are patented. And those patents do last for 20 years. Now, as a grower, we can't profit off of someone else's patent. Now, if you have roses in your garden and you want to take a cutting and give it to someone else, and you're not profiting from it, it's just a goodwill gesture, that's acceptable and fine. But it's the commercialization of a patented rose that can become a problem. And we certainly honor all of those patents and royalties and we really like the hybridizers we work with. They give us great genetics and the beautiful things they come up with.

Farmer Fred  9:31

But you still have your 900 roses. I would think the vast majority of them are very old roses.

Ben Hanna  9:37

They are. We have a lot of roses, and it certainly is in our name. We started with old garden roses back to the 1800s and those are great. Great varieties with a great story to tell with them, and they're really a unique part of your garden. I think everyone should have some old garden roses like your Cecille Brunner. I say it wrong. It’s stuck in my head that way. They're also new varieties that are coming out all the time. New colors, new styles and certainly a lot of the stuff that's coming. I especially like the Kordes roses, I think that they're bred for disease resistance and hardiness and they are a really nice shaped plant with good fragrance, they do very well. So you know, those new varieties are also great. You can have it both ways with roses.

Farmer Fred  10:19

As people peruse your online catalog at heirloom roses.com, they may come across a variety such as Just Joey,  that has an R next to its name with a circle. And just for people who don't know,  that's not a patent. That's a trademark registration.

Ben Hanna  10:35

That's correct. So that name is a registered trademark name that's given by the breeder. We honor that on our website and make sure that's very well known. So that,  Just Joey, across different places where you might see it, it's the same plant.

Farmer Fred  10:49

Trademark registrations can last a lot longer than a plant patent, too. As long as you remember to reregister it every now and then, yes. Well, you mentioned that you grow plants in containers. So we're going to talk a little bit about how to grow rose plants in containers. But talk a little bit first about when that plant arrives at your customer's house. Like I said, I was a little shocked to see no leaves, I figured it was the heatwave that was going on. But there were no leaves in the box. What was impressive about the plant, when it arrived in one gallon container, was the root system of that plant. I was showing that picture around to my Rosarian friends and they're all saying, Hey, that's a really good root system.

Ben Hanna  11:29

Yeah, when you're buying a young plant like that, and typically our plants are about 16 months old, when they leave our nursery it has a fully developed root system. That is, it’s got a lot of really fine roots that are very healthy and will take off and really establish well. So when you pop that container off, you'll see roots all the way around the outside,  they're a nice white color, they're really healthy, and they shouldn't be spiraled around a pot, we don't let that happen here. They're going to be very aggressively growing then and establishing, so the top of the plant can just take off and grow. We do this fully in our plants, we know that plant is going to do much better in a box if we actually take the leaves off the plant. And for a short period of time, that rose actually settles in, and it doesn't lose moisture that way. And it will do better. Now as soon as you get it out of the box, take it out of the plastic and give it a drink of water and then get it planted into the ground or into your large container. That plant is going to take off, you're going to see new leaves within a couple of weeks. And it's really going to start growing very vigorously. So we've had very good success with that. And we think that's probably the best way to ship plants. For people on the East Coast,  I tell my team they've got to go upside down in a box for seven days. You know, if they're gonna go to the upper northeast from Oregon, that's going to take that amount of time by the defoliating them and prepping them in a certain way that we do. They'll handle that in the box and be ready to go in their yard soon as they reach the destination.

Farmer Fred  12:56

Yeah, I gotta say that when old Cecil arrived here and didn't have any leaves, all I had to do was basically follow the instructions on the box that came with it. And within two weeks there were leaves.

Ben Hanna  13:07

Yeah, one of the things I like about growing any type of plants is I love to just see new growth. You know, I get excited about new blooms, but like this morning I was out walking through my yard and I saw there was some roses that I had in containers I had basal break coming up. I'm more excited to see that as I am blooms. So it's fun to see a plant come alive and start to grow and branch out buds and all of that.

Farmer Fred  13:31

And that's the good news when you're growing a rose on its own root system. If there's basal break happening at the ground level, you're gonna get the same rose.

Ben Hanna  13:39

That's right. That's a really healthy plant.

Farmer Fred  13:41

You mentioned fertilizers. Let's talk a little bit about the best fertilizer for Container roses. Now the one thing I did do, the day it arrived, I put it in a much larger pot about two feet wide, two feet tall and used a good potting mix. But what sort of potting mix do you like to use for roses?

Ben Hanna  14:03

A bagged potting mix is fine. To try to stay away from something with too much granular fertilizer in it. Sometimes  those can get a little hot. A lot of times that granular fertilizer that's in a potting mix will release with heat. And so if it gets really hot, you can get too big a dose of nitrogen to the young plant. It's not the best for it. So a good potting mix is is great. And then liquid fertilizer is what we always recommend for a first year plant.

Farmer Fred  14:31

Yeah, I love the smell of fish emulsion in the morning. So that's my go-to fertilizer, which has a NPK content, usually a 5-1-1, which is of low dosage but that's all the plant needs.

Ben Hanna  14:43

Yeah, and you know what's nice about it is you can water with that all the way into the fall and make sure your plant is healthy that whole time. It likes that liquid feed to get established. Certainly with a fish emulsion, it’s like that, too. It also feeds the microbes in the soil and creates an all-around better environment for the plant.

Farmer Fred  15:01

Definitely. Talk about the roses that you're sending out in the summertime. Where do you recommend people put them, if they live in a hot climate, after they get them?

Ben Hanna  15:12

The best place to put a rose after you get it is either into the ground or in a large container. I tell people to get them planted right away. The soil temperatures are going to be much cooler than what they'll get in a small pot, they're less likely to dry out. So they just need some more soil mass around them and plant them right away. That might be different. If you're getting a rose and it's still freezing outside you might want  to care for it a little differently. But certainly in the summertime, best thing you do is to get it in the ground and get it on a regular watering cycle and get it established, it will do much better.

Farmer Fred  15:43

So even though that location may be in full sun, if you're in a hot climate, go ahead and do that. But maybe top your soil with some mulch to let the moisture in the soil last a little bit longer and to stay a little bit cooler.

Ben Hanna  15:55

Yeah, and keep an eye out on it. A rose will tell you when it needs water. If you start to see a little bit of wilt, that's the rose telling you it's time to water. And you can get on a good cycle with that. And those roses will do well. Like I said, in Oregon here, it's hot. We're having upper 90 degree days, and the roses are in a greenhouse with the sides open, but it can be up to 100 degrees in there. So these plants you're getting from us right now are accustomed to hot days. And they'll do fine, they need some good water, like you said, and certainly any kind of mulch, you can put around the plant to really retain that water in the soils.

Farmer Fred  16:29

All right. So if we're planting in containers, give us some guidelines about planting roses in containers.  One thing I really liked because it was a healthy root system, and it wasn't going round and round the outside of the soil ball, I didn't have to do any scoring of the root ball to free up any roots. I was able to just plop it into the container around the new soil.

Ben Hanna  16:48

First thing, you planted it in the correct size container. The rose  needs a pretty good sized container to really establish and be happy. And so two’ by two’ is great, that's a great size for a container. It could be a little smaller than that. But that's a great size. But like you said, our roots are really healthy and vigorous. And they're going to be able to just drop right into the soil. I tell people to plant our roses similar to like planting a tomato and I plant them a little bit deep. And what that does is it promotes more basal break, and really gets the canes from the roots coming up. And it's just settles it in and is good and healthy for that plant. One thing I would say about containers, is the number one thing I see. The mistake I see people making is they don't have drainage holes in their containers. And so you want a container that will let the water out the bottom and the roots won’t be sitting in a puddle all the time. That can really be hard on a rose, to have feet wet. And so if you get a container, and I like containers from Costco, but I'll tell you, they don't have drain holes in the bottom. You can take a drill  and put a couple holes in the bottom to make sure that water can get out of there.

Farmer Fred  17:56

Okay, what size drill bit would you use for that?

Ben Hanna  17:58

Oh, like a half an inch or so you know, it doesn't take much.

Farmer Fred  18:02

What I like to do, too, is to raise the pot up, or maybe the pot might have some legs. Just so that there's no contact between the pot and the ground. Because those drain holes can easily just serve as a freeway for the roots to just basically anchor themselves in the soil below the pot. But when it does that, it blocks the drain holes.

Ben Hanna  18:21

Yeah, that's a really good point. You know, one thing my wife has been doing here. We have some pots on our deck in a couple different places on some concrete. And she's been putting them on these little trolley pieces. So we can wheel them around a little bit and move them around. And that works well to get them up off the ground. And then you've got to be kind of pushing back against the house for wintertime. It works great.

Farmer Fred  18:41

Yeah, just make sure that if you buy a base like that, on wheels, that you know the weight limit, you don't want to overdo the weight on that three wheeled or four wheeled system, because they could easily collapse on you if the weight is too much.

Ben Hanna  18:55

Yeah, that's a good point. Good thinking.

Farmer Fred  18:57

I had that happen to me doing a TV spot on HGTV a few years ago, where I was demonstrating planting a citrus tree in a half barrel, and I had the half barrel on this roller system that the crew had purchased. And I finished planting it and basically said something along the lines of, “see how easy it is to move.” And I moved it like four inches and the whole thing collapsed. Laughter ensued. That never made it to air though. But if you're going to use a half barrel for roses, and certainly that’s not a bad thing to do. You might want to use a furniture dolly. I know that you're no fan of granular fertilizer. Tell us why you want the roses, especially the roses from heirloom roses, to be fed with a liquid fertilizer instead of that granular fertilizer.

Ben Hanna  19:47

It's not that I'm opposed to granular fertilizer. It has its place, but all too often people use granular fertilizer on young plants or in containers. And fertilizer, in essence, is essentially a type of salt. And that can build up and create toxicity, so that would be too much of a good thing. It’s not a good thing, right. And so when you use liquid fertilizer, it's going to leach through the soil. Typically the ratios, the nitrogen phosphorus and potassium levels in liquid fertilizer are much lower, like we talked about with the fish fertilizer. It's a lower dosage, but applied more often, and so it's a much more forgiving way to work with that plant. And you're not going to burn the root system. like I said, your roots are really nice roots and too much fertilizer on them from a granular perspective, can hurt them and really cause harm to the plant. So we always say for the first year, use liquid fertilizer only. And then anytime you're planting in containers, it's best to use liquid fertilizer for any type of plant. You don't want the salts to build up in there and create a toxic environment that is really hard to overcome.

Farmer Fred  20:49

Exactly. And especially with the temperature fluctuations in a containerized plant, that granular fertilizer just might work against your best wishes.

Ben Hanna  20:59

That's right. I've planted in landscaping, I've done things where I've gotten a little carried away and put on too much granular. And I've really destroyed whole beds of plants accidentally with just too much granular fertilizer. So just be careful with it. Always read the instructions, follow the instructions carefully and keep a close eye on it.

Farmer Fred  21:19

I've noticed and you've probably noticed, too, that if you deal with Rosarians, and there's a few rose societies around here,  they have some interesting arguments. And it seems like everybody has a different method for pruning a rose. But I've come to the conclusion, after all these years of listening to pros and cons of every way to prune a rose, that roses are the most forgiving plant in nature, no matter what you do to them, because they'll bounce back.

Ben Hanna  21:45

That's right. You know, it's great that we have  these arguments, but the most important thing is that you prune your  roses. When you prune a rose, it stimulates it to grow. Now, how it grows after that can depend on how you prune it, that's very much true. And so certain people have different ways to do that. But I always encourage people  to not be afraid to prune. You really need that to stimulate new growth, you'll have a much better looking plant. And whatever style you use in pruning, that's fine. That's up to you. And you can experiment with that, and find what works for you. But don't be afraid to prune. And it's really important for that plant to  reach its full potential over time and to really take a nice shape. And then certainly I think there's a lot to be said about  climbing roses. A lot of people have balloons at the top and the way you shape and train a climbing rose really dictates how much bloom you get and how  you can get a wall of color that way.

Farmer Fred  22:38

Yeah, that's a whole episode in itself on techniques for pruning climbing roses. But yeah, generally speaking, they require some sort of trellis or support that you can wind the canes through.

Ben Hanna  22:50

Yeah, maybe another time we can discuss that. It's an art, and it's a lot of fun to see the results.

Farmer Fred  22:58

Yes, maybe you have a video of one at heirloom roses.com.

Ben Hanna  23:02

I do, I do. And maybe drop that in the show notes, if you want. It will be helpful and I think good for people to see. And interesting too. If you don't know much about training climbing roses, you'll learn something.

Farmer Fred  23:13

There's a lot to learn, and when you go to heirloom roses.com, all sorts of videos are there to help you out. Again, they have over 900 varieties of roses to choose from. And the biggest shock you're gonna find is when it arrives, it's going to be a small plant with no leaves, but a healthy root system. And folks, that's okay. We've been so inculcated to seeing roses at big box stores in late winter and early spring that are tightly wrapped in plastic but fairly good sized, half inch or one inch canes that  may have been waxed, too. It's just like a disaster waiting to happen. There's a lot to overcome when you buy a rose that's covered in wax to preserve moisture and tightly wrapped in plastic.

Ben Hanna  23:58

Yeah, yeah. On the front page of our website, we have a video where I tell people what to expect. So if you're wondering what you would expect, watch the video on our website, it'll tell you everything you need to know about how our roses will arrive and what our standards are, and we stick tightly to those so you always get a healthy plant.

Farmer Fred  24:16

We've been talking with Ben Hanna, he is the owner, proprietor and chief farmer at heirloomroses.com, In Oregon. Check out their website, especially for roses that you're having a hard time finding. And what's nice, too, with buying roses from a reputable firm like Ben's on the internet, the roses are in stock. As opposed to if you go to the local big box store, you're not going to find roses this time of year, that's for sure, now in summer. At Heirloom Roses, it's year round. And that just keeps you busy year round, I would think.

Ben Hanna  24:45

it does. And you know, actually I will say one thing. Fall is one of the best time to plant roses. We say October is a great time to get the plants in the ground. It's still warm enough to get established and then they're going to plop to life in the spring.

Farmer Fred  24:58

So actually, at heirloom roses.com If people go there and buy a rose,  they could have shipping instructions that say please ship in October.

Ben Hanna  25:06

Yeah, you can pick your ship date and we'll ship it to you when you want. And whenever the optimal time for planting is for you, and you're off and going.

Farmer Fred  25:13

They're all on their own root system, the roses at heirloom roses.com. Ben Hanna has been our guest, Ben, thanks for all the good info about roses.

Ben Hanna  25:21

Hey, thanks for your time. I appreciate it.

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Q&A: TREE ROSE WOES

Farmer Fred

We like to answer your garden questions here on the Garden Basics podcast. There's a lot of ways you can get your questions in. You can submit them through our website, gardenbasics.net. You can speak into your telephone, we have a number you can call us at: 916-292-8964, 916-292-8964. And there's speakpipe.com/gardenbasics where you can just yell at your computer and it magically gets to me and we can then answer your question that way. That’s speakpipe.com/gardenbasics. Today's question comes in from GardenBasics dot net. It is from Dorothea in Fremont, California which is in the San Francisco Bay area, on the warmer east bay side of the bay. And she writes in with a problem with her roses. She says, “I’m hoping you can give me some guidance. A friend passed away and the new owners of her house had their gardener dig up all the mature roses last weekend and gave them to me. I specifically told them that it was better to do it in the winter. But they didn't listen and of course, chose one of the hottest weekends so far of the year to dig them up. The Gardeners did not do a good job of maintaining much root structure when they dug the roses out, so I know I have an uphill battle saving them, with so few remaining roots. The roses were watered two days in a row on Thursday and Friday before they were dug up on the weekend. So I hope that helped them a little before all the trauma. I’ve soaked the bushes in seaweed kelp extract in a bucket for at least 12 hours after they were dug up and then potted them. I have been keeping the soil moist with almost daily midday water showers to try to maintain moisture in the remaining leaves and stems. I also watered in some diluted root growth fluid. Unfortunately one of the tree roses came completely cut off, with no roots. I have had it soaking in the seaweed kelp extract since last Saturday and added in some root growth fluid into the soaking container on Tuesday. Any advice on what else we can do to save this rose even if it's not in tree rose form?”

Well, let's ask a Rosarian. And that Rosarian would be Debbie Arrington of the Sacramento Digs Gardening newsletter. She is also a past president of the Sacramento Rose Society and one of their regional writers. She is their district… Oh, you tell them Debbie. What do you write about?

Debbie Arrington  29:50

I'm a editor for our district newsletter The Criterion, and our district is Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii and southern Oregon. I'm in charge of our newsletter for all the different rose societies that are in that four state area. And I also am in charge of our roses in review project, which is the annual project by the American Rose Society to have rosarians and Rose growers and just the general public rate new roses. And there's a list of more than 250 new rose varieties that have been introduced in the last five years plus some other roses that for whatever reason, do not get rated or needing to be rerated, we have until September 26to fill out the form on the ars.org website to rate those roses. It's one of the oldest continuing citizen science projects in the US, we're close to celebrating 100 years. This is year number 98 of this project. And I'm in charge of trying to get people to do it in four states.

Farmer Fred  31:04

Right now you're in charge of giving Dorthea some advice on how to save her tree roses.

Debbie Arrington  31:09

Her instincts were entirely right. The easiesttime to move a rose is when it's dormant, which is in the winter after it's lost its foliage. Now, considering that she's in the Bay Area, quite often those roses never actually go fully dormant, they always have some some growth going on. Because it doesn't get cold enough. The thing about moving a rose is like any large plant, it's going to have as much root down below ground as the plants branches are above ground. So if you've got a plant that's four to five feet tall, it's probably got roots going down four to five feet too. And that's why roses are so drought tolerant and able to get through periods of low water. It is because it has such deep, far reaching roots. And the roots on a rose plant are sort of like the way the canes are above ground, they're shaped sort of like a hand with five fingers. So below ground, it's just the opposite. Usually there's three to five main, thick roots. And with mature  plants like that, those roots are going to be thicker than your thumb. They're pretty, pretty big roots. And then they have all the little root hairs around it, which has little feeder roots that actually pick up the water. Now the thing about the poor tree roots is, they chopped it off at the bottom of the trunk. And it looks like it doesn't have six inches of roots underneath it. And tree roses are very tricky in that they're double grafts. And so the way they survive it all is a miracle. It's one of those weird gardening things that somebody came up with,  100 years ago, and they've been doing it ever since. There's a graft that's just above ground at the base. And on the actual rootstock down below it is almost always Dr. Huey, which is this very fast growing, single blooming red rose, that you see it in March or April because it only blooms in early spring. But it's almost thornless which is why they like to use it for grafting. And it grows very fast. And it's very strong and hardy and really able to put out big, thick, strong roots. So that's why they use it for the root stock. The middle part of that tree rose, that is  stock that's grown for its ability to create a trunk. Roses are related to plums and apples and lots of other trees. And so there are varieties that come up with very woody kind of trunk material. And that's what they're using for that middle part of the tree rose. And then on top of that is another graft. And that graft is where you have the variety of the rose that that you want it to be, like Iceberg, or Julia Child. Or it's quite often a floribunda rose, because they want something that's going to have a lot of flowers and big sprays. That's why when you're growing a tree rose, you want it to be kind of like a lollipop,  where you have this stick with all sorts of flowers up on top of it. So there's another graft up above where it has all this stuff. Now the ways to  possibly save that tree rose, is not as a tree rose, but as a rose plant , is to try to get that top graft to root because it's going to be very, very hard to try to grow on the bottom of that trunk, because it basically destroyed the bottom graft, but it is possible to try to get the top graft to root.

Farmer Fred  34:41

It was a good thing, then, that Dorothea sent pictures of this suffering tree rose, and she left the entire top part. And I'm thinking if you're trying to save a tree rose, or any rows for that matter that's been dug out in the summertime, I would trim back the top as much as possible.

Debbie Arrington  34:59

Oh yeah, yeah. But that's another thing I would recommend. Go ahead and take cuttings. Take some cuttings, and try to grow a new plant off the cuttings in remembrance of a friend, because  I think the plant has more sentimental value than what the plant is probably actually worth at this point. If she could grow some  new bush out of the cutting from the top, it would be as as good for her as that plant before.

Farmer Fred  35:28

I think she is aware of that, since her very last sentence reads: “Any advice on what else I can do to save the rose, even if it's not in tree rose form?” There you go. Cuttings.

Debbie Arrington  35:38

And actually cuttings root pretty well during the summer, it's best to take a cutting that has a flower at the end of it, because it has some of the hormones in it. That will help it go ahead and root. And  so they recommend that you take cuttings that have had flowers. And so for example, if you have a rose in a vase, that's a cutting right away. Make sure it has several of the five leaf leaflets. And if you're planning a cutting, you need to have at least two nodes - that's where the leaf is attached to the stem - below the soil line, and at least two above the soil line.

Farmer Fred  36:16

So it sounds like this cutting should be about the dimensions of a standard pencil. Yes. All right, because you'll have probably five or six nodes on that.

Debbie Arrington  36:27

Yes, I would think that. And most of floribundas, their nodes are two to three inches apart.

Farmer Fred  36:31

Okay. And two of those have to be underground. And what is the best sort of a mix to use to start a cutting

Debbie Arrington  36:39

Something that retains a lot of moisture?

Farmer Fred  36:41

So you'd almost want to use a seed starting mix?

Debbie Arrington  36:44

Yes, seed starting mixes works great.

Farmer Fred  36:47

Okay, and probably keep it on the north side of the house.

Debbie Arrington  36:49

Yes. Northside. Yeah. You know, and this time of year, I keep them inside. And they don't need much light. The idea is that you get them to concentrate on their roots. So you need to keep the rooting medium evenly moist. And they really appreciate some rooting hormone.

Farmer Fred  37:09

Well, it sounds like she's been using something along those lines, seaweed, kelp extract, she mentioned. It does have auxins in it, which can promote root growth. And then she says she added in some root growth fluid into the soaking container. And I'm not sure what root growth fluid is,

Debbie Arrington  37:25

What she's doing to the plant right now could promote more of the little tiny feeder roots. But it's not going to be enough to hold up the plant. Because the thing about roots is, they not only provide the nutrition and hydration for the plants, it also is you know, it's their feet, it's their support, it's what holds them upright. And if she tries to put that tree rose in the ground, it's going to be incredibly top heavy.

Farmer Fred  37:58

Trim back  the top and then save those cuttings on the top and start sticking them in probably one gallon containers with a seed starting mix.

Debbie Arrington  38:08

How we do it as a society is, we usually take like eight to 10 cuttings and put it in one four inch pot. And because you're going to get a 50% dieback rate in your best circumstances, you're only going to get a 50-50 chance,  then once they start leafing out and showing that they're growing and taking, then you tease them apart and then separate them into different pots.

Farmer Fred  38:37

Eight to 10 in a four inch pot sounds like a lot. But they're just little guys. Okay, so this isn't the thickness of a pencil then?

Debbie Arrington  38:44

No, no. If there was thicker ones, you probably put them in a one gallon pot. A lot of the ones that I've got, well, it's mostly I've been working with miniatures, so they are a lot thinner. But with the tree rose, she might be able to try to to induce it to grow some roots off that top top graft, but that's going to be hard. That would be the other possibility.

Farmer Fred  39:10

That’s interesting.

Debbie Arrington  39:13

She might be able to  bury that trunk down.

Farmer Fred  39:16

Yeah. So she, should cut it off somewhere, like an inch below the graft or maybe two inches below the graft, and sink that whole thing into some seed starting mix that might start the plant anew.

Debbie Arrington  39:31

That might start some roots. and I would give more than two inches (of that mid-graft wood). I would give it like probably about six inches.

Farmer Fred  39:36

Yeah, that makes sense. I've always been convinced that the person who invented tree roses is also the person that owns the rebar factory, because you're not going to keep a tree rose upright without rebar.

Debbie Arrington  39:48

Oh, yeah.

Farmer Fred  39:49

They're tough to grow.  but I understand. All Dorothea is trying to do is just keep it alive in memory of her friend. And there are several ideas right there, Debbie. Thank you. You're welcome. Tell us about Sacramento Digs Gardening.

Debbie Arrington  40:06

Sacramento Digs Gardening recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, on June 1. We've been publishing every single day since June 1, 2018. So we have a lot of gardening posts, more than 1600. And that includes recipes every Sunday. And we recently compiled our recipes into cookbooks. We released one for spring. And then on July 4 weekend, we released our second cookbook, which is a collection of summer recipes. It's got more than 60 summer recipes all using the sort of produce that you'll be harvesting from your garden or finding at the farmers market. And it has at least 15 Tomato recipes. If you're looking for tomato recipes right now. We have a lot of information on local garden events. And what people are talking about. That's what we do.  I'm an award winning garden writer, and Kathy Morrison is a Sacramento County Master Gardener. And between the two of us, we are very well connected in the gardening community. And we write about what's happening in the Sacramento area garden. It's actually a four county area of the greater Sacramento area. And every Saturday, we have a checklist of what to do in the garden that week. And this is not something that we came up with years ago and put into a calendar. This is what's happening for real in our local weather situation, and our local soil temperatures and water availability and all that other stuff. So you know what's happening right now.

Farmer Fred  41:39

And it's not all about roses, we should point out the Sacramento Digs Gardening newsletter is many, many gardening topics, not just rose.

Debbie Arrington  41:46

Yes. Well,  I grow hundreds of different kinds of plants,  not just roses. I've got a lot of roses, but  all sorts of things. And same with Kathy, and  we are plant people, and we like growing plants and all sorts of different kinds of plants. And so we're experienced in lots of different kinds of plants. So not just roses.

Farmer Fred  42:09

This is an excellent publication, check it out. Sacramento Digs Gardening, we'll have a link to it in today's show notes. Or just do an internet search for “Sacramento Digs Gardening” and you can find it right there. Master Rosarian, Writer extraordinaire, Debbie Arrington, thanks so much for helping Dorothea out.

Debbie Arrington  42:26

Tell her good luck.

Farmer Fred  42:29

Good luck, Dorothea!

DAVE WILSON NURSERY

Farmer Fred

You have a small yard and you think you don't have the room for fruit trees? Well, maybe you better think again. Because Dave Wilson Nursery wants to show you how to grow great tasting fruits: peaches, apples, pluots, and nut trees. Plus, they have potted fruits, such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, boysenberries, figs, grapes, hops, kiwifruit, olives and pomegranates. All plants, that you can grow in small areas. You could even grow many of them in containers on patios, as well. It's called backyard orchard culture. And you can get step by step information via their You Tube videos. Where do you find those? Just go to dave wilson dot com, click on the Home Garden tab at the top of the page. Also in that home garden tab, you’ll find a link to their fruit and nut harvest chart, so you can be picking delicious, healthy fruits from your own yard from May to December here in USDA Zone 9.  Also in that home garden tab? You're going to find the closest nursery to you that carries Dave Wilson's quality fruit trees. They are in nurseries from coast to coast. So start the backyard orchard of your dreams at DaveWilson.com.

BEYOND THE GARDEN BASICS NEWSLETTER/PODCAST - Jalapeño-gate

Farmer Fred

This week’s Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter and podcast will hit home for anyone who is mistakenly growing the wrong pepper variety. It’s a mistake that has plagued gardeners in nearly two dozen states this spring and summer. These gardeners purchased what they thought was a jalapeño pepper plant or packet of Jalapeño seeds. What’s been growing instead?  A different variety pepper with way less heat. That alone would be a big enough disappointment, but this seed mixup also includes mis-marked sweet pepper plants that could turn out to be much much hotter. That would be a nasty surprise. Not only for gardeners, but also for shoppers, restaurants and canneries.

How did this mixup happen? It turns out, those mismarked seeds may have been imported and distributed to commercial growers and nurseries across the United States, with the wrong labels on those commercial batches of seeds. Where did they come from, what can a disappointed gardener do about it?

It’s all in the current Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter and mini-podcast, “Jalapenogate”.

If you are already a Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter subscriber, it’s probably in your email, waiting for you right now. Or, you can start a subscription, it’s free! Find the link to the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter and podcast in today’s show notes, or on the Substack app. Or, you can sign up at the newsletter link at our homepage, gardenbasics dot net.

SOIL TEMPERATURES IN CONTAINERS IN THE SUMMER NEED MONITORING (recorded live at the Four Season Garden Club, El Dorado Hills, CA)

Diane Whalen  45:19

I'm Diane Whalen and I'm introducing our guest today. I looked up a bunch of stuff on him. And he has a bunch of stuff. He started his broadcasting career in 1969 in college radio. He worked in Fort Bragg, Stockton… Oh, I got a good voice I don't need a mic.

Farmer Fred  45:43

Oh, yes, you do. This is for the podcast.

Diane Whalen  45:45

Oh, okay.  Now you're really making me nervous.

Farmer Fred  45:52

Let me explain those dates. I was in college in 69 in Southern California at Cal State Northridge and then wanted to be in radio.  I drove up Highway 101 looking for radio towers. AndI  left a tape and a resume at every radio station I found.  I went from Los Angeles, up to Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, up the coast to San Jose to San Francisco, up to Eureka, over to Redding, over to Chester, I think (it was Susanville) and then came back down I-5 and stopped at all the radio stations on the way back. and when I got home, there was a phone message… well, they didn't have phone mail back then. But my dad said, “hey some station in Fort Bragg called you. They figured that if you drove up here to apply, you'll probably want the job. And so I did.

Diane Whalen 46:41

Okay, so Fort Bragg, Stockton and Modesto. He became a Sacramento radio radio regular in 1975. He debuted in 1982 on a country station.

Farmer Fred  46:55

Well, close. It was 1977. Farmer Fred, though, started in 1982. I became a Master Gardener in 1982. And there was a farm show on KRAK. Anybody here remember K-R-A -K, the  country music station. Thank you. Well, early early in the morning at 5am, Walt Shaw had a farm show. And I said hey, well, can I have five minutes of that show to do garden tips? I'll call myself Farmer Fred. And that's how it began.

Diane Whalen  47:24

Okay. And then he earned his UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners certification in 1982. In 1983, He debuted a weekly garden show at 10am on Fridays as Farmer Fred. On November 1 1992, He joined talk station Talk650 KSTE. He signed on the air as one of its original employees. Through several ownerships and changes he stuck. Growing his weekly KSTE show which was on that station for 28 years.

Farmer Fred  48:04

29 years, it turned out to be okay.

Diane Whalen  48:08

And then he eventually picked up hosting the KFBK Garden Show for almost 20 years, Hoffman broadcast the two live shows back to back.  Chatting with guests and listeners.

Farmer Fred  48:21

I didn't have a Sunday off for 29 years.

Diane Whalen  48:24

29 years. Wow. Okay. So to quote farmer Fred, “I don't even think of you as listeners. We are a gardening community, we are friends and neighbors who are bound together by our love of soil, plants, and the outdoors. It's been wonderful to chat with all of you about peppers and perennials, instead of politics and pandemics. All of us need a regular break from that. And I'm glad I could have that respite for you and me.”

Farmer Fred  48:57

Well, thank you. Thank you for inviting me to the Four Seasons Garden Club in El Dorado Hills. I was told there'd be about 20 people here. I think there's more like 30 people here. So wonderful. The tables are filled. Well, how many of you have a garden? Good, that's why you're here. Oh, well, it's air conditioned to I could see why you'd be here in the heat for the air conditioning. But yeah, gardening is something that lasts a lifetime. And I think it's the only area where as you get older, you don't lose the respect of your children because you know more than they do about gardening, if they would only listen to you. But the point is, that's a great thing about gardening is the older you get, the more wisdom you have and wisdom is just getting knocked in the head so many times you figure out, okay, I won't do that anymore. And then you do it right. But there are some basic tips for success for gardening that everybody can participate in. And we'll have this as a handout at the end. And there is a note on the back of this that mentions the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. Anybody here listen to the podcast? Thank you so much. There are directions here on how to get to the podcast by going to my website, gardenbasics.net. And you can listen to the podcast right there. Remember, podcasting is just broadcasting without the bra. I started the podcast in April of 2020, just as COVID broke out. And I was talking to my friends in the gardening business, especially the seed companies. And they're telling me, Fred, we're getting slammed, we're out of seeds already. And it's just March! And I figured, oh, there's a lot of new gardeners out there who are stuck at home and they want to do something, maybe we can provide some guidance. And it's been around ever since.

Farmer Fred

All right. I did a little experiment last Saturday when the daytime temperature was 100 degrees. I was wondering, just how hot are these containerized plants getting  that have roses in them? And they're in different kinds of containers. So I got out my soil thermometer, I stuck it in my Smart Pot. Smart Pot is a fabric pot that is primarily black in color. Actually, they come in several colors now. But the Smart Pot, it comes in various sizes too, so that you can get them in one gallon, five gallon, 15, or 30 gallon or bigger containers, but it just has excellent airflow through it. And plants don't get root bound in it. It's really a very nice fabric planter to have. So I have roses  in the Smart Pots. Now remember, this was 100 degree day, but the soil in that pot was 80 degrees. Perfect. That's what a plant loves, a plant that is in soil temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees, it's going to thrive it's going to grow like crazy. Then I went to another rose that was  not in a fabric pot, but a corrugated pot. It's sort of a cardboard pot. If you shop at nurseries, you might find roses sold in these along with some berry plants, in these corrugated pots. That temperature was closer to 90-95 degrees. So I think, well that's okay, but maybe I'll just move this around to an area where it's gonna get a little bit more shade. Finally, I went to a rose that had been planted in a black plastic pot. It's a 100 degree day, the temperature of that soil? 110 degrees!  It could get up to 130 degrees, if I left it there long enough, because as the heat builds, that soil temperature goes up. Root damage to plants in black plastic pots will start to happen when that temperature hits 104 degrees. And it gets worse as it goes up. You can even get damage at 100 degrees, if it was in a full sun situation where you're going to have nothing but sun hitting it all day long. The shorter the duration, the better. But the fact of the matter is, if you have plants - and I bet you do - somewhere in your yard, you have a plant in a black plastic pot. We all do. Who doesn't have a stack of black plastic pots  stashed in the yard somewhere? If you have plants in black plastic pots, take some precautions, especially if it's in full sun, and you want to keep the plant. Because when those roots go because of high heat, the plant is going to die.

Farmer Fred

And when gardeners see death on the top of a plant, they don't think about the roots. They think about the leaves. “Oh man, I'll give it some water. I'll give it some fertilizer.” Water is a good idea. Fertilizer, not a good idea for a plant that's under stress. You don't want to try to promote new growth in a plant that's under stress like that and is trying to rebuild its root system. So what do you do? I put everything I want to keep, in Smart Pots myself. And that's what I did. But I ran out of Smart Pots. So I moved the one rose that was in the black plastic pot around the corner to the shady side of the house just to give it a chance, along with a good drink of water, and I'm hoping that I caught it in time. We'll find out. The plant already started getting some very interesting looking discolorations on the leaves and I knew that wasn't a disease or an insect. It was the soil temperature of that pot. So a soil thermometer is actually a good investment. You can find that at any good nursery. And  during the heat of the day, stick it in your pots for a few minutes. See what the soil temperature is. If that soil temperature is hitting over 100 degrees on midday or late afternoon especially, either move the pot to a shady or area or ideally get a better pot. Or put that black plastic pot in an even bigger pot. Maybe you have an old terracotta pot or something that is of a bigger dimension. Slipped that black plastic pot inside that bigger container. Fill in the sides with mulch. Something to act as a buffer to even bring the temperature down even more. And besides, it looks better. Now the only warning I'd have if you do that is make sure that the bigger pot has drain holes. Otherwise that plant will be just sitting in water.

Farmer Fred

The other thing to know when you are having problems with your soil has to do with your water habits. Pay attention. If you water  your containers by hand,  put the hose over the plant, watch the plant, watch the bottom of the pot. When does the water come out of the bottom of the pot? If it's after 30 seconds or so of watering, you're probably fine. If the water is coming out immediately, that means the soil ball has compacted itself, and pulled away from the sides of the pot. And that water is just running down the side and it's not watering the roots of your plant. So if you see water coming out immediately, you've got a problem. One way to solve that problem would be to add more soil around the sides of that pot and put it in a shadier location or in a bigger pot. But what do you do if you can't move that plant and you don't have any extra pots? If it is a dark colored pot, you could paint it a lighter color. Debbie Flower, retired college horticulture professor who's on the podcast a lot, likes to wrap her black plastic pots in aluminum foil, which I always thought, “well that's a good way to signal the UFO to land in your yard”, I guess. But it does reflect the light and heat away from that pot. So as a temporary measure, that's not a bad idea.

And if you're watering that container plant, and you're watering it and you're watering it and the water hasn't come out yet, and the water hasn't come out yet, you got a bigger problem. Your drain holes are clogged, probably from soil that has mixed from the pot with the ground and it's in touch with the ground. And so the roots have gone out those drain holes and are anchored in your soil. Plugging those drain holes. Plants need air to breathe. The roots need air. One of the biggest components of soil, oddly enough, is air. Air and rocks comprise most soils. It's only like two or 3% of what you might think of as soil is organic matter. So really, soil is very basic for maintaining air spaces to allow the water to flow through and for the roots to breathe.

Farmer Fred

So again, if that plant is not draining, what you want to do, get it out of that pot, clear those holes, and then raise the pot off the ground. Give yourself an airspace of maybe an inch or so. If that pot is resting on the ground, put it on bricks  on boards, something where you have air space below the pot. That way, when the roots try to go down through the drain holes and into the soil, and they find no soil, they'll stop. Which is the beauty of Smart Pots by the way, because of all the million little porous holes on the sides of a Smart Pot fabric container. All those little air holes stop the roots from coming out. Nor do they  go round and round and round the outside of the rootball. That's the other thing roots will do in a plastic pot, is just go round and round and round around the sides and around the bottom. They won't do that in a fabric pot.

Garden Club Member

How long do Smart Pots last?

Farmer Fred

I know people have used them for 20 years. I've got some that are seven years old that I still use on a day to day basis. So yeah, they do last a long time. You know they work and they'll keep your plant healthy. But get a soil test done to know what you have. It's amazing how soils can vary in your own yard.

Farmer Fred  58:37

I did two soil tests on our property, one in the front yard, one in the backyard. They were wildly different as far as the nutrients they had. And do the pH level soil test. You can buy small soil tests for testing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and pH at any nursery or hardware store. If you want a more thorough test, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Colorado State University and Texas a&m offer soil tests. You mail them off your soil sample, they send back a complete soil report and it's usually under $20. And that's a very reasonable fee for paying for a soil test. You can tell your soil moisture with a moisture meter. These are inexpensive, the little green one here sells for about nine or $10. This is my favorite, though. I've had this for 30 years, and it's sold originally for $85. And so I think it's up to $100 or so. But if you take care of it, if you clean them, you don't leave them in the soil. You take them back inside, put them in the shed. It'll last a lifetime. That over there is a soil probe. It looks like the letter “T”. It's usually made out of chrome and it has a big opening along the side of the pipe here. So what you do is you plunge it into the soil you give it a quarter turn. You lifted it out and you can see the soil. You can touch the soil. And you can determine from that how wet the soil is at the root zone, eight inches down. It's very inexpensive. Plus, you don't need batteries for that. And that will last you a lifetime. It's usually a very sturdy item, again it’s called a soil probe. Anybody have questions?

Garden Club Member  1:00:19

yes, I noticed some of the leaves on some of my crape myrtle trees have a sticky, clear coating on them just recently. What is that?

Farmer Fred  1:00:30

It has a euphemistic name. It's called Honeydew. It’s aphid poop, basically. You probably have aphids on your crape myrtle tree or perhaps scale. And their secretions are this sticky substance that ants love. If you look really closely, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you're seeing ants going up and down that tree. And they're harvesting that honeydew to take back to the Queen Ant and the nest. And in the meantime, what they're doing as well is moving the aphids around to other parts of the plant. In order to harvest more honeydew. The ants are the ranchers and the aphids are their cattle. And when you have that sticky stuff, don't park under a crape myrtle tree in the summertime. Otherwise, you're gonna have to clean your windshield with something like vegetable oil. That will work. That's also how you get that sticky stuff off your hands, is to is take some vegetable oil and rub it in your fingers. But that honeydew is the secretions of aphids.

Garden Club Member

How do you control Aphids?

Farmer Fred

Good question. The easiest way to control aphids is a blast of water on the underside of the leaves. And that's will work with the crape myrtle. You're gonna get wet, so dress appropriately. Use a jet spray on your hose. Just spray on the underside of the leaves. Do that maybe twice a week for about two or three weeks and that'll control the aphid population. Once they fall off the plant, they don't go back up. Well, thanks for coming out. I appreciate it! I don't want to keep you from lunch!

HARVEST DAY EVENT, SAT. AUG. 5

Farmer Fred  1:02:02

Coming Saturday, August 5, It’s Harvest Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. Put on by the U.C. Master Gardeners of Sacramento County, Harvest Day features speakers, education tables, garden vendors, food trucks, and your chance to explore the one acre garden that is designed for you, the backyard gardener, to take home ideas that you can use in your own yard.

The Fair Oaks Horticulture Center was built and is maintained by Sacramento County Master Gardeners. It features areas dedicated to growing berries, herbs, fruit trees, vegetables, a vineyard, native plants, water efficient plants and a lot more. Plus there are sections dedicated to composting, including worm composting.

On Harvest Day, each area is staffed by Master Gardeners who are eager to answer your garden questions.

At the dozens of education tables, you’ll get information from professional nursery people, irrigation specialists, the Audubon Society, soil experts, the Master Food Preservers, local garden clubs, water experts, honeybee and native bee specialists.

Vendors will include northern california nurseries, exotic plants, cactus and succulents, mushroom growing kits, and more.

The speakers include talks about landscape trees, attracting pollinators, and, oh yeah…Myself and America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture professor, Debbie Flower talking at 830 that morning about Tips for Saving Time, Money and Water in the Garden.

Someone once said, It’s the best garden event in Northern California! Oh wait, I said that. It’s true. And it’s free.

Harvest Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, Saturday, August fifth, 8am to 2pm. In Fair Oaks Park in Sacramento County. put on by the UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County. Check today’s show notes for a link with more details and maps of Harvest Day! Hope to see you there!

FLASHBACK EPISODE OF THE WEEK: #265 - SOIL IRRIGATION BASICS

Farmer Fred

Today’s Garden Basics  Flashback episode is a summertime reminder for all gardeners, on how to effectively and efficiently water your garden. Proper soil moisture is necessary for healthy plant growth. Do you know how moist your garden soil is right now? What are the easiest, and best ways to determine the moisture level of your soil? How do you install a drip irrigation system on a raised garden bed, which has a totally different moisture pattern than your in-ground garden? How do you pick a soil moisture meter or a soil probe? Don't forget that your choice of fertilizers plays a part in proper irrigation.

We cover all that in this week’s Flashback Episode: Number 265, “Soil Irrigation Basics. It’s from last May. Find a link to it in today’s show notes, as well as at the podcast player of your choice. Or, look it up at our home page, garden basics dot net.

Farmer Fred  1:04:56

The Garden Basics With Farmer Fred podcast comes out once a week, on Fridays. Plus the newsletter podcast, that comes with the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter, continues, also released on Fridays. Both are free and are brought to you by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. The Garden Basics podcast is available wherever podcasts are handed out, and that includes our home page, Garden Basics dot net. , where you can also sign up for the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter and podcast. That’s Garden Basics dot net. or use the links in today’s show notes.  And thank you so much for listening.